The State of Kuwait on Friday commended the international efforts to improve the standards of living and protect human rights around the globe. These efforts gained momentum after the endorsement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement, Nour Al-Dowailah, said on behalf of Kuwait mission to the UN in a statement to a debate during the UN General Assembly.

The debate, part of the 71st UNGA session, was discussing the latest report of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Despite the progress made, the UN member states need to exert more concerted efforts to reach full implementation of the concept of human rights and address the emerging challenges in several parts of the world, Al-Dowailah said.

Many people still find it difficult to attain decent living, and proper medicine and shelter due to armed conflicts, and the ensuing displacement and migration, she said.

Such challenges require that the international community adopt a serious approach to meeting the growing needs of migrants and refugees, she said, welcoming the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted on September 19, 2016.

The Declaration shows that the international community realizes the tune of the humanitarian suffering of several peoples across the world, she went on.

Dealing with Kuwait's efforts to promote human rights, Al-Dowailah said her country approved a law to found the national Diwan for human rights on June 17, 2015, based on the Paris Principles which were adopted by the UN General Assembly Resolution 1992/54 of 1992.

She highlighted the interrelation between the concept of human rights and the targets sustainable development, saying that the advancement of nations can be measured by their respective human rights records.

Out of belief in humanitarian action and respect for human rights, the Kuwaiti government and non-government organizations offer essential aid to needy people through the UN aid agencies such as OHCHR, she said.

On behalf of Kuwait, Al-Dowailah expressed regret over the continued conflict in Syria which took its inevitable toll on nearly half the total population of the sisterly Arab country.
She urged the international community to step up the efforts to find peaceful solutions to the Syrian crisis and the Palestine question.